Television in Serbia

Television in Serbia was introduced in 1958. According to AGB Nielsen Research in 2009, Serbs on average watch 5 hours of television per day, making it the highest average in Europe.[1]

National broadcasting

Serbia has a total of 6 national broadcasters, which can be viewed throughout Serbia. These are RTS1 and RTS2 from the country’s public television network Radio Television of Serbia, as well as private networks Prva, B92, Pink and Happy TV.

Digital television was launched in Serbia in November 2008 with RTS Digital, also known as RTS Culture and Arts. The channel began experimental broadcasting in 2005. It currently airs cultural content.

High definition television broadcasting was launched in Serbia on September 9, 2009 with RTS HD.

Regional and local broadcasting

Each region in Serbia has its own regional broadcasters. Serbia’s northern province, Vojvodina, also has a public broadcaster called Radio Television of Vojvodina. It airs 2 channels throughout Vojvodina – RTV1 and RTV2. Via cable television the 2 networks can be viewed throughout Serbia, like many regional only broadcasters. After RTV, one of the largest and most watched regional broadcasters is Studio B, which airs across Belgrade’s metropolitan area.

There are more than 100 regional and local television stations which can only be viewed in certain towns and cities.

Cable television

Serbs have one of the highest percentages of cable television viewing in Europe. As a result there are many cable television companies. Cable operators offer not only Serbian only channels in their packages but also foreign television stations, mostly from Western Europe.

IPTV

IPTV was successfully launched in Serbia on December 1, 2008 by Telekom Srbija. In September 2013 SBB has launched an IPTV service called D3i.

List of television stations

Public television stations broadcasting nationally

Channel Notes
RTS1 First television station in Serbia launched on 23 August 1958 as Televizija Beograd or TVB (Television Belgrade).
RTS2 First colour television station in Serbia launched on the last day of 1971 as Televizija Beograd 2 (TVB2).
RTS Culture and Arts (RTS Digital) Channel began broadcasting on 26 November 2008 in DVB-T format in Belgrade and Novi Sad area, since 21 March 2012 it is available across Serbia over trial DVB-T2 network.
RTS HD The first high-definition television channel in Serbia, launched on 9 September 2009. Since 21 March 2012 it is available across Serbia over trial DVB-T2 network.

Private television stations broadcasting nationally

Channel Notes
B92 B92 launched on 6 October 2000 at 6am. It targets mostly teen and urban audiences. It launched a 24-hour news cable network in 2008.
Happy Happy was started as Serbia's first children only channel. It was launched in June 2002 as a local Belgrade television station. In a joint bid with Košava, the station received a national frequency in 2006. On 27 September 2010 at 7am it fused with Košava into a one television.
Pink RTV Pink launched on 16 September 1994 at 8pm. It has since become a huge media group which owns several television networks across the Balkans.
Prva Prva is Serbia's youngest national broadcaster, launched on 31 December 2006 at 7pm as FOX. It is part of Greek Antenna Group since December 2009. On 20 September 2010 at 6pm it changed its name to Prva.

Public television stations broadcasting regionally

Channel Notes
RTV1 First launched as Radio Television Novi Sad (RTNS1) the network was renamed to Radio Television of Vojvodina in 2006. It is broadcast across Serbia's province of Vojvodina. It can also be seen throughout Serbia via cable television.
RTV2 RTV2 caters mostly for the minority groups living in the Serbian province of Vojvodina with a large number of foreign language content. It can only be seen in Vojvodina and is not broadcast via cable television to the rest of Serbia.

Private television stations broadcasting regionally

There are 80 private television stations broadcasting with a local licence.[2] Due to cable television being widely used across Serbia, many regional television stations can be viewed throughout the country.[3]

Channel Notes
BEST TV Airs from Zaječar
Kanal 3 Airs from Belgrade
Regionalna TV Airs from Novi Pazar
SAT TV Airs from Požarevac
TV Banat Airs from Vršac
TV Belle Amie Airs from Niš
TV Bor Airs from Bor
TV Enigma Airs from Prijepolje
TV Kanal 9 Airs from Kragujevac
TV Kragujevac Airs from Kragujevac
TV Kraljevo Airs from Kraljevo
TV Kruševac Airs from Kruševac
TV Lav plus Airs from Užice
TV Metropolis Airs from Belgrade
TV Most Airs from Novi Sad
TV Palma Plus Airs from Jagodina
TV Panonija Airs from Novi Sad
TV Pirot Airs from Pirot
TV Podrinje Airs from Loznica
TV Raška Airs from Raška
TV Santos Airs from Zrenjanin
TV Sremska Airs from Novi Sad
TV Studio B Airs from Belgrade
TV Šabac Airs from Šabac
TV Vranje Airs from Vranje
TV Vujić Airs from Valjevo

National cable television stations

International cable television stations

Most-viewed channels

Viewing shares in 2012:[4][5][6][7]

Position Channel Share of total viewing (%)
all population (4+)
1 RTS1 23.5
2 Pink 19.6
3 Prva 16.1
4 B92 8.1
5 RTS2 3.6
6 Happy TV 2.8

See also

References

  1. ↑ Televizijske serije kao obrok , December 2009
  2. ↑ Private television stations broadcast locally
  3. ↑ Private television stations broadcast regionally
  4. ↑ Gledanost TV programa za period od 1. januara do 31. marta 2012.
  5. ↑ Gledanost TV programa za period od 1. aprila do 30. juna 2012.
  6. ↑ Gledanost TV programa za period od 1. jula do 30. septembra 2012.
  7. ↑ Gledanost TV programa za period od 1. oktobra do 31. decembra 2012.

External links